One way or another, this Presidential election was bound to make history. Would it be the first black nominee from a major party? The first female nominee? Largest amount spent by the candidates on campaign ads and literature? Biggest media circus?
Feel free to pick your own hyperbole – the fact is, the 2008 election feels like it’s been building for more than just four years. Whether it’s because of the incredible media frenzy that’s taken hold since before the spring primaries, or just a general George Bush-related fatigue, this election has been a long time coming.
And there’s no clearer sign of that than this week’s Democratic National Convention, which was held in Denver, Colo., and featured four days and nights of speakers and publicity surrounding the coronation of Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for president this fall. The speakers represented a virtual “who’s-who” of nationally prominent Democrats, including cancer-stricken Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy and former President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary, who battled Obama tooth-and-nail during the primary process only to pledge allegiance to him during a stirring DNC address. Of course, Barack and wife Michelle were the stars of the show, with Barack’s address scheduled for Thursday, after this paper’s press time, at Invesco Field, home of the Denver Broncos. He was to be addressing a crowd anticipated to be the largest in political convention history, a spectacle meant to convey Obama’s ability to take charge on a grand stage and take advantage of his ability to connect with his audience.
Of course, Republicans have their own blitz planned, highlighted by Sen. John McCain’s likely vice president choice after the close of the Democratic convention, and the kick-off of the Republican convention, sure to be full of same largesse, early next week.
And neither of the spectacles should raise eyebrows (presidential candidates deserve some fanfare, after all), except for the fact that conventions used to mean something – namely, a final decision on a presidential candidate – before evolving into their current state, glorified coronation ceremonies. And before dismissing that as the griping of some nostalgic pundit, look at the opulence of these events – the energy consumption, the travel required by delegates, media personnel and the general public, and the focus on celebrity speakers and events rather than important issues of the campaigns. In a year when a faltering economy and intelligent energy use promise to play a huge role in deciding who our next president may be, neither candidate comes off looking good after the charade of their conventions. Of course, they’re merely being propelled along by the party machinery at this point, but it would have been meaningful – and inspiring – to see one of them put their foot down and call for an end to the needless pomp.
Instead, we get politics as usual. Par for the course in an election that promises change but instead looks like more of the same.